Method of Managing Print Jobs Using Virtual Print Identity

1. A method of managing print jobs on a server having a memory and a processor, the method comprising: the server receiving by email a print job addressed to an identifier of a virtual print identity account, wherein the virtual print identity account is an account associated with a first user, but not tied to a particular user device, the virtual print identity account having at least one parameter relating to where a print job should be printed; determining a type of document in the print job; determining whether the type of document in the print job is a restricted type of document that is allowed to be printed only by paying users; determining whether the virtual print identity account has a permission to print the document in the print job based on the type of the document and whether the first user is a paying user; in response to a determination that the virtual print identity account has the permission to print the document, selecting a printer to print the print job based on the at least one parameter in the virtual print identity account; and making the print job available to the selected printer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter is a location of the first user.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising metering print jobs printed by said virtual print identity account against a usage account.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more parameters relating to the virtual print identity account are stored in a database.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the database has rules for sending the print job to different printers at different times of day.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the server determines a type of print job and selects the printer based on a rule in the database indicating a particular printer is to be used for a particular type of print job for that virtual print identity account.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the email received by the server comprises instructions relating to printing of the print job and an attachment containing the print job.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending an email to the selected printer to make the print job available to said selected printer.

9. A method of managing print jobs on a server having a memory and a processor, the method comprising: the server receiving a print job from a third party, said print job being addressed to an identifier of a virtual print identity account, wherein the virtual print identity account is an account associated with a first user, said virtual print identity account not being tied to a particular user device and having at least one rule relating to where a print job should be printed; determining a type of document in the print job; determining whether the type of document in the print job is a restricted type of document that is allowed to be printed only by paying users; determining whether the virtual print identity account has a permission to print the document in the print job based on the type of the document and whether the first user is a paying user; in response to a determination that the virtual print identity account has the permission to print the document, selecting a printer on which to print the print job based on the at least one rule in the virtual print identity account; and making the print job available to the selected printer.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one rule refers to a location of the first user or a time of day.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising selecting, by the server, a printer that is in physical proximity to the first user to print the print job.

12. A server comprising: a processor, and a memory having a list of virtual print identity accounts handled by the server, wherein each virtual print identity account is an account associated with a user, but not tied to a particular user device, the memory further comprising a set of machine readable instructions executable by the processor to: receive by email, a print job addressed to an identifier of a virtual print identity account of the virtual print identity accounts handled by the server; determine a type of document in the print job; determine whether the type of document in the print job is a restricted type of document that is allowed to be printed only by paying users; determine whether the virtual print identity account has a permission to print the document in the print job based on the type of the document and whether the user of the virtual print identity account is a paying user; in response to a determination that the virtual print identity account has the permission to print the document of the print job, select a printer on which to print said print job based on at least one parameter of said virtual print identity account; and make said print job available to said selected printer.

13. The server according to claim 12 , wherein the server comprises a virtual print identity database to store the at least one parameter of the virtual print identity account.